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Psychology in UX

A reader recently asked me a pointed question: “I’ve read your work on creating user habits. It’s all well and good for getting people to do things, like using an app on their iPhone, but I’ve got a bigger problem. How do I get people to do things they don’t want to do?” Taken aback by the directness and potentially immoral implications of his question, my gut reaction was to say, “You can’t and shouldn’t!” To which his response was, “I have to; it’s my job.”...

The user experience designers are capable of finding out solutions for problems that are exciting in the real world. Designing for humans is the most difficult objectives. Everyone wants their work simplified. Achieving simplicity will be the ultimate sophistication when come to design. As designers, we look into different aspects of humans. I came across an interesting topic called temperaments of personality.
The temperaments:
The word on temperaments can be herd in the early stages of Roman Empire, and a philosopher called Galen came up with a theory for temperaments and personality.
Melancholic : People who are sad, fearful, depressed, poetic and artistic.
Phlegmatic : People who are shy, rational and consistent
Choleric : People who are fiery, energetic and passionate
Sanguine : People who are warm-hearted, cheerful, optimistic and confident.

It’s easy to come up with examples of digital badges that don’t work, or are simply too silly to be serious tools for engagement. It’s far more difficult to take the positive perspective and determine the features that can make a digital badge an effective tool for behavior change. My interest in badges originally stemmed from a critical place, both from seeing badly done versions as a user, and having clients ask for badges without a thoughtful supporting strategy. But working through that critique has brought me to the following set of recommendations for doing digital badges well.

Human Cognition

People can't keep much information in their short-term memory. This is especially true when they're bombarded with multiple abstract or unusual pieces of data in rapid succession. Lest designers forget how easily users forget, let's review why our brains seem to be so weak.
Human beings are remarkably good at hunting the woolly mammoth. Our ancestors did fine work in exterminating most megafauna from Australia to North America armed with nothing better than flint weapons. (In today's more environmentally conscious world, we might deplore their slaughtering ways, but early humans were more interested in catching their dinner.)

User interfaces that you interact with using modalities such as touch, gestures or voice are often referred to as Natural User Interfaces (NUI). We consider them interfaces that we find so easy to use that they feel natural. However, what does it mean for an interface to be natural? Also, how do you design NUI interfaces? Here, we’re going to explore what NUIs are as well as a set of guidelines for how to design them; this is where you can get a deep appreciation for the most vital aspect of any interface, and incorporate that into your future work.

Human, AI and UX

There is a lot of conversation happening around Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and using algorithms to shape the future of Design and the role of the designer. But how is that changing the way we work in the near future?

Books and Resources 📖

In this episode I talk to Celia Hodent, the Director of User Experience at Epic Games and a psychology Ph.D. Hodent and her team help Epic make sure that its customers have the experiences that its game designers envision, and in this podcast she explains how an understanding of psychology, knowledge of research methods, and experience in data management help her do that. She also shares some advice for anyone interested in getting into this line of work. For more of Hodent’s thoughts on psychology and UX, read CeliaHodent.com.